At a time when the size of the LGBT senior population is
increasing with the rate of life expectancy, the question of how to best care
for elders becomes an ever more crucial one to answer. Openhouse, the agency
that works with LGBT seniors, has several projects in the works, including the
long-stalled housing complex at 55 Laguna Street.

Affordable and safe housing is one of the critical needs
expressed by LGBT seniors. According to real estate website Trulia Inc., rent
in San Francisco increased 15 percent from June 2011 to June 2012. In a report
released last year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition named San
Francisco as the most expensive place to rent in the country. It costs just under
$2,000 per month on average to rent a two-bedroom apartment – an
impossible rate for many seniors living on fixed incomes. And even if it's
currently feasible, rent hikes loom ahead.

"Housing has been identified as one of the most urgent
needs for LGBT older adults," Openhouse Executive Director Seth Kilbourn
said. "Seniors can call us, set up an appointment with our housing
specialist who takes into account their income, needs, and current living
situation to identify their options. Many seniors feel forced to leave the
community they've built because housing is so expensive so we offer assistance
in helping them stay."

For the 55 Laguna Street project, Openhouse is partnering
with Wood Partners and Mercy Housing California to build, own and operate 110
units that will be explicitly LGBT-senior welcoming. It is part of a larger
in-fill development that will see an additional 330 new multi-family rental
units built at what was the UC Berkeley Extension campus.

The San Francisco Planning Commission last August approved
the project and construction for the first phase is slated to start mid-2014.
Openhouse estimates that each of the two phases will take about one year and
hopes to have people moved into phase one by mid-2015 and phase two by
mid-2016.

Financing for the project, Kilbourn said, is expected to
come in the form of government and private corporation funds covering around
$53 million.

While eligibility for 55 Laguna won't include identifying as
LGBT (but rather being 55 years or older and meeting income criteria),
Openhouse is promising that the LGBT community will be well-represented there.

"Our vision has always been that 55 Laguna will be a
hub for LGBT seniors," Kilbourn said. "We'll be moving our offices
there and building an activities center for the activities we already
have."

Additionally, Openhouse offers a broad range of activities,
services, and programs that foster healthy and sustainable livelihoods for LGBT
seniors. Over 25,000 LGBT people over 55 live in San Francisco and more than 600
per year access the resources that Openhouse provides. This year, the
organization has an operating budget of $850,000 to maintain those services and
largely depends on the help of volunteers.

Daphne Romeo and Linda Maccione, who have been together for
13 years, have been attending Openhouse activities for the past year. Both East
Coast natives, they've found San Francisco's LGBT community generally welcoming
with Openhouse contributing largely to their positive experience. They attend
Games Day every Saturday at the LGBT Community Center on Market Street, the
Women's Support Group at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav every Tuesday, and other
activities.

"Openhouse is important because it's an outlet for
people to feel comfortable," Romeo, 46, said. "It's good to be with
people you identify with – a good haven. It's more community than I've
ever had anywhere."

Other popular activities include the Men's Group, a grief
support group, various health and wellness workshops and events, and the
twice-monthly "rainbow" lunch.

"With Openhouse we're protected," added Maccione,
62. "If you're alone or isolated, it's a place to get together and feel a
sense of community and camaraderie."

Focus groups forming

Recognizing that many LGBT seniors live at the intersections
of race, ethnicity, class, culture, HIV status, sexual orientation, gender,
gender identity and expression, spirituality, and ability is paramount to
Openhouse's mission. The premise is not only apparent in the resources it
already provides, but will also be woven into a new strategic plan the
organization is looking to formulate based on information currently being
collected through a series of focus groups to be held between January 21 and
February 8.

"We really want to get a cross-section of the LGBT
community to know what we're doing well, what we could be doing better, and
what other programs might be relevant to people based on the intersections of
their identities," Kilbourn said. "We want to meet the needs of the
broadest range of people."

Kilbourn said the agency is seeking people to participate in
the focus groups.

The 90-minute confidential discussions will be led by a
facilitator with refreshments provided. Each attendee will get a $20 gift card
from either Trader Joe's or Safeway for their participation. Bay Area LGBT
adults age 55 and over are encouraged to participate, as are people who care
for LGBT older adults and those who have or have not participated in an
Openhouse program.

"We hope to have a report produced by this spring that
will help us formulate four or five big strategic goals that we need to expand
our services," Kilbourn said. "This is a really important point in
history for our organization."